1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to edible animal medicine containers, and in particular, to edible animal medicine containers that seal or partially seal a designated quantity of medicine or other ingestible material inside.
2. Background
A problem encountered by nearly pet owner and many other animal caretakers is the administration of oral medications and other ingestible materials to an animal. Animals frequently object to the taste, smell, texture, or the like of the material, or are generally distrustful of the person administrating the material or the manner in which it is administered.
A variety of techniques have been utilized to accomplish such administration. Simple techniques include disguising the pill or other material within a food that the animal is known to eat readily. For example, many dog and/or cat owners have hidden pills within a serving of peanut butter or rolled or buried within a slice of cheese or meat.
For administration of liquid medicines to animals, there are various syringes, spoons, sprayers and the like that are inserted into the animal's mouth and used to squirt or dispense such liquids into the animal's mouth. Unfortunately, animals tend to dislike these approaches for many reasons, including the feeling of being force fed, the taste of the medicine being dispensed, and the smell of the medicine.
More recently, edible food containers or carriers have been developed for such a purpose. Examples of such containers or carriers are describe, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,470 (issued Aug. 11, 1998 to Baumgardner, Sr. and titled “EDIBLE CONTAINER FOR ADMINISTERING MEDICATION TO ANIMALS”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,316 (issued Nov. 7, 2000 to Hayden et al and titled “DIGESTIBLE POUCH AND METHOD FOR ADMINISTERING MEDICATIONS TO AN ANIMAL”), U.S. Pat. No. 8,501,218 (issued Aug. 6, 2013 to Hurwitz and titled “EDIBLE CHEW PILL JACKET”), and U.S. Patent Publication No. US2011/0256208 A1 (issued Oct. 20, 2011 to Ling and titled “EDIBLE CARRIER FOR ANIMAL MEDICATION”), each of which is incorporated its entirety by reference and a copy of each of which is attached hereto as an appendix. However, these devices suffer from various shortcomings, including inability to disguise or contain the smell of the pills or medicine contained therein, inability to assist in measuring a volume or quantity of medicine or other material, not being watertight or water sealed, and the like. Smell, in particular, has recently gained notice as a significant factor in whether an animal such as a dog or cat is willing to ingest a particular medicine, pill or other substance, as a dog's sense of smell is upwards of 40 times as acute as a human's, and non-watertight or water sealed containers fail to potentially prevent a dog from being able to pick up the scent of medicines or other ingestible materials disposed inside.
Thus, a need exists for further improvement in edible animal medicine containers, such as but not limited to means for easier measuring and loading.